The present invention relates to a multi-character dot matrix display for word processor, electronic memory typewriters and the like.
Dot matrix displays are well known in the art and widely used. Inexpensive word processors, for example, comprise displays for displaying on the order of 20 characters, digits, symbols and the like of a line being input or edited in the 5.times.7, 7.times.9 or similar format. Each character occupies a space of fixed size on the display in the manner of a conventional typewriter.
However, due to the limited number of dots for forming each character, it is not possible to form in a fixed space, all characters in an aesthetically pleasing manner as is possible with typewriter fonts. For example, characters such as "i" and "t" occupy only a limited horizontal portion of the fixed space with blank areas on either side of the characters. This provides an aesthetically unattractive display which is not particularly legible. Although blank areas on either side of narrow characters may be eliminated in a cathode-ray-tube display system, it has not been heretofore possible with a hard-wired dot matrix display.